The Fuwa (ridiculously translated as "Friendlies") are the Beijing Games mascots. They each represent an Olympic ring colour and a traditional Chinese element, as well as being animated Olympic/Chinese characters: Beibei the fish, Jingjing the panda, Huanhuan the Olympic flame, Yingying the Tibetan antelope, and Nini the Beijing swallow.

We thought the Vanouver Olympics could also have five mascots, representing the regions of Canada:

It appears that the Beijing Olympics will be attaching ribbons to toonies and giving these out in lieu of traditional medals.

Eight-year-old Aerfa made these herself.

If you're thinking, man, Aerfa doesn't sound like a Chinese (Han) name, you're right. The article says she's from XinJiang "autonomous" region, a.k.a East Turkestan. That likely makes her an Uyghur. While you'll never see the Beastie Boys at a Free Uyghurstan concert, they likely have just as legitimate a claim to self-rule as the more cute and fuzzy Tibetans.

But don't say that while visiting Beijing for the Olympics.

In case you've ever wondered, the J in Beijing is hard, like the j in jack, not the j in j'accuse. No real clue how to pronounce Uyghur, but maybe it sounds like a Jew meeting a bear?